1. Field of Art
The present disclosure relates generally to a system for transmitting a video stream to a display device over a network, and more specifically, to a system for changing the playback speed of a video stream transmitted to a display device over a network.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, multimedia such as video and audio has been delivered using analog delivery mediums such as NTSC (National Television System Committee) signals, and has been stored using analog storage mediums such as video cassette recorders. The analog signals typically contain uncompressed frames of video. Thus, a significant part of the electronic components in a display device are dedicated to analog receiving hardware, and if the display device has a digital output, electronic components are needed to convert the analog signal to a digital signal. With the advent of digital delivery mediums, such as ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) signals, and of digital storage mediums and DVDs, multimedia can be delivered and stored using pure digital signals. Digital signals typically contain compressed frames of video.
In a network-based media environment, video items in the form of digital signals are sent from a video server to a display device over a network. The video server stores the video items for transmission over the network to the display device. The video items are often compressed before transmitting to reduce the bandwidth necessary for transmitting the video items. The display device receives the video items via the network and plays the media contents on the display device. More than one display devices are often coupled to the network to enable multiple display devices to play the same or different video items transmitted from the same video server.
While viewing the video item on the display device, a user may want to view the video items in trick modes (e.g., fast-forward or fast rewind) to search the video items or return to previously viewed scenes. Performing such trick modes in the network-based video system may be limited by the available bandwidth of the network. To perform double speed (2×) fast-forwarding operation, for example, the video server must send the video item to the display device over the network at double the normal speed so that the display device may receive, decode and display the video item at double the normal speed. As the speed of fast-rewind play increases, the data transmitted over the network must be increased accordingly. Therefore, the trick mode significantly increases the bandwidths of the network used for transmitting the video item.
Therefore, the present art lacks systems and methods that allow trick modes to be performed on a network-based video system without increasing the bandwidth for transmitting a video item over a network.